Other view: Economic group must turn itself around - quickly

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The good news is that there's a relatively new CEO at the troubled Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

The bad news is that a new audit shows the quasi-private agency, which is charged with helping create jobs in the state, routinely opted not to follow state laws and mismanaged taxpayer money. It's more of the same bad news that has been coming out about the agency for months and months.

The WEDC is out of excuses.

Reed Hall, the new CEO and secretary, must make sure the agency is doing things the right way from now on, and the WEDC has to prove to Wisconsin taxpayers that their money is not being wasted.

Reed said he has made changes and that he's working to improve the agency. That's imperative, because things are pretty bad.

An audit by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau showed that the WEDC did not have policies in place to oversee its programs. That's a huge problem, because the agency administered 30 programs and awarded $41.3 million in grants, $20.5 million in loans and provided $110.8 million in tax credits, according to the audit.

Its sloppy record keeping and lack of policies led to awards that were given to ineligible projects and ineligible recipients, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau reported. The WEDC failed to follow state statutes in other cases.

We agree with what Sen. Rob Cowles put so succinctly: "There is no excuse for breaking state statues."

Frankly, we're tired of hearing negative reports about an agency that was designed to promote Wisconsin's economy as one of the best.

Wisconsin's taxpayers want positive developments from now on.

-Appleton Post-Crescent

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Other view: Economic group must turn itself around - quickly

The good news is that there's a relatively new CEO at the troubled Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

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